Nina Chordas Presents Paper at Conference

Juneau English Faculty Presents Paper at Modern Language Association Conference

UAS Assistant Professor of English Nina Chordas presented a paper on the poetry of Andrew Marvell at the annual Modern Language Association (MLA) conference.

UAS Assistant Professor of English Nina Chordas presented a paper on the poetry of Andrew Marvell at the annual Modern Language Association (MLA) conference in Chicago, held December 27-30, 2007. Her paper was titled, The Marvell in La Maravilla: Marvell's Poetry as Conceptual Frame in Alfredo Véa's Interlingual Novel.

Chordas' paper was presented as part of a panel dealing with allusion in the poetry of Marvell, a 17th-century English poet, or allusions to Marvell and his poetry in other works. She discussed La Maravilla, a novel by contemporary American author Alfredo Véa, and the extensive use it makes of Marvell's poetry.

Chordas said, "My main point was that, although it's not necessary for a reader of this novel to be familiar with Marvell, readers who are familiar with his poetry will have a richer experience by picking up on subtexts that are not available otherwise. Borrowing from linguistic terminology, I refer to Marvell's poetry in Véa's text as a "conceptual frame," carrying its own connotations within the larger context of the book." In addition, in a novel considered "interlingual" because it intersperses Spanish and other languages with English, she argues that Marvell's poetry functions almost as another language similarly interspersed.

In 2007 Dr. Chordas also served the first of 3 years as a nationally elected member of the MLA Delegate Assembly.